The race was part of a paracycling weekend in Utrecht, held as a warm-up for the Grand Depart of the Tour de France, which takes place on July 1st-5th 2015.

Over 100 participants attended the series in a variety of categories and the weekend's events were hailed as a great success by all participants, despite humid weather on the Sunday. On a sunny Saturday, the Road Races took place over the 56kms course, followed the next day by the Individual Time Trials over 24kms and blind tandems. The Invacare Top End® athlete Tim De Vries, successfully competed, finishing first in the Men's H5 category, in both the Road Race (1:28:40 – Distance 55.3kms – 37.421km/h) and Individual Time Trial (35:17:83 – Distance 23.7kms – 40.287km/h). Details of the complete results can be found on the EHC websitewww.ehf-ehc.eu.

The Invacare Team was on hand to support the race and athletes and our representatives also attended the award ceremonies, distributing gifts to the winners. The weekend was a great opportunity to showcase and demonstrate some of the recently launched Invacare Top End models, including the Force Series® and the innovative Küschall® everyday chair, the Küschall Advance. The next EHC Series stage will be held in Louny, in the Czech Republic on June 29th. See you then!

Invacare renew partnership with European Handcycling Federation (EHF) 2015 - 2016

Invacare and the European Handcycling Federation (EHF) were thrilled to seal the renewal of their partnership for the European Handbike Circuit (EHC), the world’s largest handcycle competition series. EHF President Roberto Rancilio stated: “We are delighted that Invacare Top End will continue to support the EHC Series. We have been working for several years to grow the handcycle movement, encouraging innovations in both equipment and technology in this field; having Invacare’s expertise behind our sport will reap benefits for everyone.”

The European Handbike Circuit (EHC)

The EHC is the world’s largest handcycle competition series, held annually throughout Europe and the Middle East. Every year, over 1000 athletes from 30 countries compete, with approximately 100 athletes participating in each race. The EHC is structured by virtue of a ranking system, which takes into account an athlete’s ranking as an individual, as well as a team member. In 2015 most of the EHC stages are listed by the UCI and will be valid in counting towards athletes' qualification for the UCI World Championships and Paralympic Games.
 
EHC races fall into two categories: Road Races and Time Trials. Road Race riders start together and the first to cross the finishing line is the winner. The Time Trials differ in that the riders set off at intervals, and the winner is the rider with the fastest time over the course.
 
The EHC 2015 Series opening race took place on 22nd March in Abu Dhabi (UAE) at the F1 circuit. It was followed by: Rosenau, near Mulhouse (France) on April 4th; Rzeszow (Poland) on May 16th, Utrecht (The Netherlands) on May 30th-31st, Louny, near Prague (Czech Republic) on June 29th; the Final Stage will be held in Barcelona (Spain), on October 10th-11th.
 

Handcycling is a fast growing sport

Handbikes are special three-wheeled cycles, which are powered solely by the arms, using upper body strength. Athletes can kneel, sit or recline on the handbike, depending on the position that best suits their posture and their disability. High-tech materials such as aluminium, titanium and carbon fibre are often used in the design and construction of handbikes, and the Invacare Top End range constantly seeks to improve the use of lightweight materials to develop winning new technologies.
 
Athletes are divided into categories depending on their disability level. Interestingly, though, able-bodied athletes are also encouraged to compete. Handcycling is increasingly becoming a popular sport, and although the categories separate disabled participants from fully abled athletes, there is great unity and a shared sense of competition between the differing categories of competitors.

About EHF

The European Handcycling Federation (EHF), was formed as an international association by a group of enthusiastic handbikers in 2001. Initial headquarters were located in Belgium and have since moved to Italy. The founder countries, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland have been progressively joined by new countries like the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy and, in 2014, Poland.
Aim of EHF is to develop handcycling sport in European and non-European countries, promote and support integration of disabled and able-bodied athletes, eliminate barriers through sport and give disabled and able-bodied athletes the chance to compete together with the same goal.
For more information on the EHF, visit: www.ehf-ehc.eu

Meer informatie over onze sport rolstoelen en handbikes vindt u hier.